Tonga 7s 29, Scotland 7s 0

The Scotland 7s team were knocked out of the IRB Sevens World Series event in Hong Kong today at the Plate quarter-final stage.

Tonga stormed to a 17-0 half-time lead with three tries, one converted, before sealing the game off with two further tries in the second period, one converted.

The Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens Festival is the eighth and final leg of the IRB Sevens World Series. It will be held at Murrayfield on 30 and 31 May 2009.

Tickets for each day of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens Festival - priced at £15 for adults, £10 for students and senior citizens and £5 for under 18s – are available to purchase by logging onto www.scottishrugbytickets.com, by calling the Ticket Hotline on 0131 346 5100 (open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday) or in person from the Murrayfield Ticket Centre (open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday).

After the game, Scotland 7s coach Stephen Gemmell said: “It was very disappointing. We couldn’t match the physicality of their game with our usual failing of not being able to make crucial tackles.

“We were always under pressure and that fed into our attacking game where we were tentative on the ball. You can’t afford to do that against a very physical island side.

“We now need to move onto Adelaide where we face three different teams in Fiji, Argentina and France. We know their physicality will be massive so we need to get our heads switched on to play that type of game.”

Scotland 7s’ results at the IRB Hong Kong Sevens:
Pool game 1: USA 17, Scotland 19
Pool game 2: Kenya 31, Scotland 7
Pool game 3: Scotland 19, West Indies 17
Plate quarter-final: Tonga 29, Scotland 0

Scotland 7s team v Tonga: Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Andrew Easson (Edinburgh), Jamie Hunter (West of Scotland)*, Calum MacRae (Edinburgh), Jim Thompson (Edinburgh), Hefin O’Hare (Glasgow Warriors)
Replacements: Graham Hogg (Hawick)* for Easson, Chris Kinloch (Glasgow Warriors) for Thompson, Tom Bury (Boroughmuir)** for O’Hare

Scotland 7s squad (sponsor Murray) to compete at the IRB Sevens World Series events in Hong Kong (27-29 March) and Adelaide (3-5 April): Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Tom Bury (Boroughmuir)**, Alex Dunbar (Selkirk)*, Andrew Easson (Edinburgh), Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Graham Hogg (Hawick)*, Jamie Hunter (West of Scotland)*, Chris Kinloch (Glasgow Warriors), Calum MacRae (Edinburgh), Hefin O’Hare (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Riddell (Blaydon), Jim Thompson (Edinburgh)

* = Member of Scottish Rugby’s Contracted National Academy
** = Member of Scottish Rugby’s Area Institute Supported National Academy